Performance Preview

Holiday Theater Preview

Your guide to the plays about town

This time of year is perfect for gathering up your friends and family and heading as far from the mall as possible. So in between your last minute holiday purchases, put on your crushed velvet and patent-leather finery (universal Christmas attire still, right?) and go see a play. There are so many great ones in town this month, I just couldn’t choose one. Maybe you shouldn’t, either.

A new work, Genesis: Lead Me Home examines how we view our mothers, who they were before we were born, and the ramifications of the deification of women (Virgin Mary, anyone?). Lady Luck Productions is a brand-new company dedicated to the promotion of female artists, a worthy endeavor any time of year.

This stage adaptation of the film version of the French fairy tale has been juniorfied. Parents will enjoy the Oscar-winning songs and romance, kids will love that a teapot talks. The Box has a new location, too; all the better to make merrier in.

This farcical winner of Mother Road's 2009 Prebut contest follows Dark Ages France villagers and the one-eyed minstrel who schools them in creative debt repayment. Which, after this past year, seems pretty topical. Described as "lightning-fast" and "irreverent," the play features local stalwarts Chad Brummett, Leslee Richards and Courtney Cunningham. Dress code is early sackcloth.

Private Lives

Oh, rich people. You are so endlessly entertaining, what with your childish hubris and inflated sense of consequence. On the other hand, you generally dress well and your easily bought Ivy League educations have provided you with a vocabulary perfect for bon mots. And god bless Noel Coward, whose play Private Lives captures a former couple and their new partners and their comedy of manners so perfectly. This is a classic of smart theater, if not exactly filled with the holiday spirit of giving.

Revenge of the Nutcracker

Outside of The Nutcracker, no other Christmastime event is so anticipated as The Dolls' annual holiday show. This year, the indomitable drag troupe presents Revenge of the Nutcracker, thereby becoming all things to all people. Revenge follows the angel Joan Crawford's mission to get her wings, along with the inevitable antics that will hilariously ensue.

Since 1996, the BRT has done its part to keep Christmas tradition alive with this annual staging of the ballet classic. If you've never been, go. Even better, take a child who's never seen The Nutcracker. Regardless of your religion, sharing this event is the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Last year's shows sold out quickly, so don't delay.

The classic 1954 movie may be best remembered for its title song, but White Christmas is also a story of a couple of smart sisters who save the day and land their men (at least, that's the way I remember it). ALT must agree, since it's hosting a Sister Sunday on Dec. 20 for this musical, where all sisters, biological and otherwise, can get their photos for free. Rosemary Clooney would be proud.

The much beloved British book by Frances Hodgson Burnett was turned into a magical musical by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman; this version won a Tony Award for Best Book. The Secret Garden is a hallmark of English children's literature—mystical, hopeful, strange and haunting. A perfect holiday treat for all ages.